What it means for the Angels

They beat the Texas Rangers to the punch again, just as they did this past offseason when they signed left-hander C.J. Wilson away from their primary AL West rivals. With a rotation that now features Wilson, Greinke, Jered Weaver and Dan Haren, the Angels not only are built for a postseason charge, they are built for the postseason. And that group will be even stronger if Ervin Santana somehow manages to solve his season-long struggles.

"It should be fun," Greinke said, according to MLB.com. "They're a great team. I think the first month they struggled, but since (then), they're one of the best teams in baseball. (They have) a lot of great players, good pitching. The pitching staff will be pretty incredible."

If Greinke loved Miller Park—and his 15-0 record and 2.93 ERA there the past two seasons certainly suggest that he did—he will love Angel Stadium. He also will love the Angels’ defense. Although the Angels and Brewers have almost an identical fielding percentage, L.A. ranks second in the majors in Ultimate Zone Ranking and Milwaukee ranks 21st, according to fangraphs.com.

The lingering issue: Will Greinke thrive in a huge media market? That has been a concern for years, dating to before the Kansas City Royals dealt him to the Brewers. But with Albert Pujols, Mike Trout, Weaver and others around, Greinke won’t be the star attraction. And strong locker-room presences like Torii Hunter will make sure Greinke is comfortable. Besides, Anaheim isn’t New York. In fact, it isn’t even Los Angeles.

What it means for the Rangers

Because they have a sizeable lead in the division and still are a better team than the Angels when healthy and running on all cyclinders, the Rangers don’t have to panic. Of course, if Neftali Feliz continues to underwhelm on his rehab assignment and Roy Oswalt’s back continues to be an issue, all bets are off, especially with Colby Lewis done for the season after elbow surgery.

Texas coveted Greinke (and Cole Hamels before him) and the fact that he landed in Los Angeles is a double whammy. Expect the Rangers to step up their pursuit of Josh Johnson or James Shields—and expect them to give the Philadelphia Phillies one more call and offer to take Cliff Lee’s burdensome salary off their hands—as they try to keep pace with not only the Angels but also the Oakland A’s.

And then there is the offense. Texas has scored four runs or fewer 14 times in 18 games this month, and slugger Josh Hamilton is such a mess at the plate that even owner Nolan Ryan is getting restless. The addition of another bat isn’t a necessity, but it would be a nice luxury.

What it means for the trade market

There is one fewer ace in play. With Hamels staying in Philadelphia and Greinke heading to Los Angeles, teams shopping for a front-line starter have fewer options. That list now includes Shields, Johnson and Ryan Dempster. And their prices keep going up.

The other believed-to-be-available arms—Francisco Liriano, Jason Vargas, Matt Garza, Kevin Correia, Wade Davis, among them—aren’t difference-makers on that same level. In fact, the contenders that miss out on the top starters soon might turn their attention to the reliever market, which has been quiet thus far.

And with the pickings getting bare on the rotation shelf, the focus figures to shift to the hitters. The bats aren’t on par with the arms this July, but the futures of Chase Headley, Hunter Pence, Alfonso Soriano, Bryan LaHair, Shane Victorino, Carlos Lee, Josh Willingham and Marco Scutaro should begin to come into focus.